Trip Report It has begun

We're here! Just waiting for my best friend to pick us up.
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OhanaOwl

OhanaOwl

Member
Songbird76 said:
We've kind of taken it easy today. We didn't get to MK until around 10. I wish the pools were open before 10! We shared a waffle with Nutella and fruit for breakfast and then went on Carrots. I wanted to do the pirate adventure but it wasn't open until noon. Small world said 10 minutes before we did carrots, but then it was already 35.so we went on Little Mermaid. I waved in the appropriate spot.

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We did carousel of progress, then did the people mover. As we were approaching the end, I said to E, "can't we just stay here and take a nap?" and the CM must have heard me, because she said we could stay on. So we did.

We had lunch at Pecos Bill. We shared the pork carnitas nachos.
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We did monsters Inc laughter floor at some point. And got a joffreys donut and a pretzel with cheese. Then we did a round in the resort line monorail and then took a boat to wilderness lodge.

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E made some little friends at the boat dock. The adults were obviously tired, the kids were bored and grouching at each other, so e kept them entertained. When we got off the boat, they grabbed her hand and we just had to follow. Apparently the little boy said maybe she could stay with them tonight. So sweet. She told him she couldn't because there were lizards at our hotel that would miss us if we didn't come back tonight. They pulled her all the way to the elevator and I said it looked like she has been adopted, it was fun being her mom, and the boy says You're coming with us now" and one of the adults said "she's got a whole life!" so they hugged her goodbye and headed off to their room and we went in search of geyser point. They would not let me get just the black cherry Margherita, so I had to get the whole flight. The cucumber melon does indeed taste like pickles. Yuck. But I didn't really like any of them. Salty and sour and I didn't get black cherry Flavor. E wanted smell them and we kind of got in trouble because she's underage, even though she wasn't drinking it.

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And now we're just relaxing at WL.
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They kept wanting to play Rapunzel and mother Gothel: "Rapunzel, let down your hair!" *climb climb climb* - "Oh no! Are you mother Gothel? Did you at least bring hazelnut soup?" - "Yup!" *dumps soup on me* Also, lots of "Guess my favorite _____!" It was sweet.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ajrwdwgirl said:
Sorry the Studios isn't a hit with you too. How did you like Mickey's? If you are looking for a place to relax, don't forget about the Baseline Taphouse. My niece really likes the special soda there, I think it is hibiscus and I guess there are free refills. I don't think you are a beer person but my husband likes the California Sunset cocktail and I've had their margarita and it is good plain margarita. It might be a refreshing respite for you two.
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We both got sick on Mickey's. Daisy was like Let's conga! And I was like Let's not!

Our LL never did change to a select experience, so we had to go to guest relations and have them do that manually. But there's nothing left to use it on anyway. I wanted to move up our ADR so we could be at Epcot at 2, but the app says I can't modify.

After Muppets, we'll head there and see if we can check in early.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
sheriffwoody said:
You and me both!! It would be perfect for a day you don't want to rope drop but don't want to skip parks completely.

By the way, we were in the same parks Tuesday and Wednesday!
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Quiet pools at deluxe and moderate resorts open at 7 am. @Songbird76 I am not sure about quiet pools (pools without lifeguards) at value resorts but you may want to check the sign at your quiet pool.
 
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I feel like we aren't getting NEARLY as much done as we used to. You almost have to rope drop to get the popular rides, and we aren't even doing most of them! But genie plus is a total waste of money. We bought it for yesterday and got to use it exactly once. We bought the multi-park version, and I bought it at midnight. Made our first selection at 7am. We rope dropped Rise of the Resistance so we wouldn't have to get an Individual attraction LL, and figured we'd use genie plus for ToT, MRR, and Smuggler's Run then hop over to Epcot and use it for Frozen and Soarin'. That was the plan. So right at 7, I booked smuggler's run. We were some of the first people on Rise, so as soon as we got through, the park was still not open to the general public. ToT was down, so We headed to Mickey's Runaway Railway, got that knocked out without using a LL. Didn't like it at all, so we weren't going to use LL to ride again. ToT still down, so we went to Toy Story land for breakfast. TSMM was only 15 minutes, so we hopped on before getting food. ToT still down and our Smuggler's Run window was 9:30 to 10:30 and it was 9:36 so we headed straight there. We got right outside the entrance and we're told they were evacuating the area, we needed to leave and our LL would turn into a select experience pass that we could use on any ride except ToT, Slinky, or Rise. Which meant there was nothing left to use it on because we had already done Mickey's, TSMM, and you don't need it for Frozen Sing-along, and we don't like A.S.S. We went and did the sing-along, checked the app and it still said smuggler's run at 9:30. It wouldn't let us book another LL until we had used that, which we couldn't, OR after 10:30 which it now was. But ToT was still down, and we had done everything in the park we wanted to do except ToT which was down. But we couldn't park hop for 3 more hours. Not enough time to go back to the resort to swim, but also nothing left to do, and it was hotter than Satan's underpants. We figured we'd use the select experiences LL in Epcot, but it still hadn't changed from Smuggler's to Select Experiences. So we went to a guest experience kiosk and they changed it manually, but didn't mention to us that we couldn't use it in another park, which is bogus since we had park hoppers and the multi-park genie plus. I tried making a selection for Epcot, but the only thing that was already past 2 was test track... Which we didn't want to do. So I couldn't book a LL for Epcot, there was nothing left to book in HS. So we headed to Muppets just to waste time in some AC. It was noon after the show, so we went to Prime time to see if we could check in early. Finished that and took the skyliner over to Epcot and got there 7 minutes before 2, so we used the bathroom and reapplied sunscreen. Made a 2:20 LL for Soarin and figured we'd use the select experiences for Frozen, but couldn't use it in Epcot. So we did Soarin and by that time, there were no more LLs for Frozen and the stand by was 115 minutes. You don't need LL for Turtle talk, Nemo, living with the land, etc... All of them were walk ons. The only thing left we wanted to do was Frozen and it was sold out. So we spent 23 bucks each to ride Soarin once. You can't use LL for the same ride twice, so there was just nothing else to use it for. Remy makes us sick, I can't do coasters, so guardians was out. Not buying genie plus again. We can't use it on anything. You don't need it for most things we wasn't to do and we don't do the ones YOU DO need it for. Waste of money. Just have to rope drop the few we want to do.
 
Swissmiss

Swissmiss

Premium Member
I am not sure it is that useful for ropedroppers. I did get it last summer for one day (maybe it was two.). I was able to stack them for later in the day when I knew I could get my teen into the parks with me and so we were able to do the 3-4 rides I knew she wanted to do. We also took advantage of the single rider lines whenever possible as well.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuvalu said:
Quiet pools at deluxe and moderate resorts open at 7 am. @Songbird76 I am not sure about quiet pools (pools without lifeguards) at value resorts but you may want to check the sign at your quiet pool.
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I don't think there are "quiet pools" here. We only have the piano pool and the guitar pool, and they both say 10:00 to 11pm. I checked that the other day.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Swissmiss said:
I am not sure it is that useful for ropedroppers. I did get it last summer for one day (maybe it was two.). I was able to stack them for later in the day when I knew I could get my teen into the parks with me and so we were able to do the 3-4 rides I knew she wanted to do. We also took advantage of the single rider lines whenever possible as well.
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That's the thing though... There are very few rides we do that you need it for. Soarin' and frozen in Epcot, carrots and Haunted Mansion in MK, ToT in HS, and maybe the safari and FOP and Navi in AK. We don't do the headliners, and most of the smaller attractions don't get that busy until late morning. So if you rope drop, you don't need genie plus. And now that you can't park hop until 2, you can't just get Genie plus and then hop from park to park to do the bigger ones. Yesterday, Frozen ever after was gone before we could even make our second selection because our first one was down so we couldn't book another. Normally, you could book another right after you used the first one, but we didn't get to use the first one, so we had to wait the full two hours before we could book again, and then the main things you would use it for were all down. ToT and Smuggler's were both down. But we couldn't park hop. So we just couldn't use genie plus during that time.
 
fractal

fractal

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
I feel like we aren't getting NEARLY as much done as we used to. You almost have to rope drop to get the popular rides, and we aren't even doing most of them! But genie plus is a total waste of money. We bought it for yesterday and got to use it exactly once. We bought the multi-park version, and I bought it at midnight. Made our first selection at 7am. We rope dropped Rise of the Resistance so we wouldn't have to get an Individual attraction LL, and figured we'd use genie plus for ToT, MRR, and Smuggler's Run then hop over to Epcot and use it for Frozen and Soarin'. That was the plan. So right at 7, I booked smuggler's run. We were some of the first people on Rise, so as soon as we got through, the park was still not open to the general public. ToT was down, so We headed to Mickey's Runaway Railway, got that knocked out without using a LL. Didn't like it at all, so we weren't going to use LL to ride again. ToT still down, so we went to Toy Story land for breakfast. TSMM was only 15 minutes, so we hopped on before getting food. ToT still down and our Smuggler's Run window was 9:30 to 10:30 and it was 9:36 so we headed straight there. We got right outside the entrance and we're told they were evacuating the area, we needed to leave and our LL would turn into a select experience pass that we could use on any ride except ToT, Slinky, or Rise. Which meant there was nothing left to use it on because we had already done Mickey's, TSMM, and you don't need it for Frozen Sing-along, and we don't like A.S.S. We went and did the sing-along, checked the app and it still said smuggler's run at 9:30. It wouldn't let us book another LL until we had used that, which we couldn't, OR after 10:30 which it now was. But ToT was still down, and we had done everything in the park we wanted to do except ToT which was down. But we couldn't park hop for 3 more hours. Not enough time to go back to the resort to swim, but also nothing left to do, and it was hotter than Satan's underpants. We figured we'd use the select experiences LL in Epcot, but it still hadn't changed from Smuggler's to Select Experiences. So we went to a guest experience kiosk and they changed it manually, but didn't mention to us that we couldn't use it in another park, which is bogus since we had park hoppers and the multi-park genie plus. I tried making a selection for Epcot, but the only thing that was already past 2 was test track... Which we didn't want to do. So I couldn't book a LL for Epcot, there was nothing left to book in HS. So we headed to Muppets just to waste time in some AC. It was noon after the show, so we went to Prime time to see if we could check in early. Finished that and took the skyliner over to Epcot and got there 7 minutes before 2, so we used the bathroom and reapplied sunscreen. Made a 2:20 LL for Soarin and figured we'd use the select experiences for Frozen, but couldn't use it in Epcot. So we did Soarin and by that time, there were no more LLs for Frozen and the stand by was 115 minutes. You don't need LL for Turtle talk, Nemo, living with the land, etc... All of them were walk ons. The only thing left we wanted to do was Frozen and it was sold out. So we spent 23 bucks each to ride Soarin once. You can't use LL for the same ride twice, so there was just nothing else to use it for. Remy makes us sick, I can't do coasters, so guardians was out. Not buying genie plus again. We can't use it on anything. You don't need it for most things we wasn't to do and we don't do the ones YOU DO need it for. Waste of money. Just have to rope drop the few we want to do.
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You should send this to Disney. They need to know how their ridiculous rules and inadequate infrastructure can soil a guest's experience which it clearly did for you. It's also a bit of a "bait and switch".

I hope things go better today.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
fractal said:
You should send this to Disney. They need to know how their ridiculous rules and inadequate infrastructure can soil a guest's experience which it clearly did for you. It's also a bit of a "bait and switch".

I hope things go better today.
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I considered going to guest relations, but I doubt they can do anything about it. They are very clear that they don't do refunds, and I think they estimate that the average person can do 2 to 3 rides with the service. It's just not a well-functioning service. Universal’s express pass is infinitely superior now. Fast pass used to be way better, and that was free. Now they made it less functional and they charge for it... Typical Disney money grab. I thought it sounded decent when it came out, but the reality is that it doesn't work nearly as well as fast pass did. Disney needs to either allow multiple uses on the same ride, OR they need to allow park-hopping the whole day to make it worth it.
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Songbird76 said:
I considered going to guest relations, but I doubt they can do anything about it. They are very clear that they don't do refunds, and I think they estimate that the average person can do 2 to 3 rides with the service. It's just not a well-functioning service. Universal’s express pass is infinitely superior now. Fast pass used to be way better, and that was free. Now they made it less functional and they charge for it... Typical Disney money grab. I thought it sounded decent when it came out, but the reality is that it doesn't work nearly as well as fast pass did. Disney needs to either allow multiple uses on the same ride, OR they need to allow park-hopping the whole day to make it worth it.
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Disney has been known to offer refunds. It does sound like some sort of malfunction happened on their end with the Smuggler's Run being down and it not switching to an anytime experience right away, especially if they had to manually do it later. If they didn't offer a refund, they at least should have added a complimentary lightning lane to something. If it still bothers you it might be worth a stop at guest relations or your front desk.
 

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